‘Come At Me, Bro!’ Passengers Cheer As Southwest Boots And Bans Famous Jiu-Jitsu Fighter

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt Aaron “Tex” Johnson was kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight after getting into a confrontation with another passenger and with crew.

After boarding completed he tried to get his carry-on bag from the overhead bin. He took a bit doing this, it seems, and got into an argument with another passenger as the flight prepared to push back.

A flight attendant intervened, and eventually tried to kick him off pleasantly. Eventually it took multiple flight attendants and passengers urging him to “Go!” while he shouted and challenged others to come at him, insisting he “did nothing wrong.” As he was escorted off, passengers applauded.

Reports suggest Southwest Airlines has banned Johnson from future flights, though they haven’t commented publicly on the incident.

Johnson is apparently well-known in martial arts, a world I’m not a part of and hadn’t heard of him before. He holds multiple championship titles, and a strong reputation for questionable behavior.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. These videos show a man who is unintimidated and direct in his communications. That’s far more respectable than passive-aggressive sighing or side-eye, or the keyboard warriors we see in online comment sections.

    I don’t follow martial arts either but if he’s well known in that field, he must have earned it through his work ethic.

  2. @Unintimidated — Bah! “keyboard warriors we see in online comment sections…” Methinks (you) doth protest too much.

  3. The comments from unintimidated are laughable.

    This guy has an illness, or he’s on steroids or some other chemical affecting his behavior.

    There were some laws broken here and this guy ought to be prosecuted.

    So tired of MMA/human cock fighting types like this guy who literally offer nothing to society of the human race. Would rather beat on people than get a real job.

  4. @R.Lopaka — At least that test pilot was authorized to do that in the 707. Reminds me of the more recent 2018 Horizon Air Bombardier Q400 incident, in which Richard Russell, a Horizon Air ground service agent with no piloting experience, as the sole occupant, performed an unauthorized takeoff, and successfully executed a barrel roll before he crashed the aircraft, killing himself. Yikes.

  5. @ 1990
    Yes, indeed a tragic incident. But at the end of the day that troubled soul only ended his own life and not hundreds of totally innocent & unsuspecting others as we’ve tragically seen occur with other airlines in the past …
    Actually, I thought that Tex Johnson Dash-80 barrel roll incident was not preplanned at all, but a spontaneous event …

  6. l just love the way the POS Prima Donna pilot just stands there in the doorway of the cockpit doing absolutely nothing as the female FA’s are left to fight the fight. Great job bro!!

  7. I just love how the pilot just stands in the doorway of the cockpit doing nothing as the female FA’s are left to fight the fight. Great job bro!

  8. @bossa — Good distinction. And yes, after the recent developments with AI171, and Germanwings before it, there’s a more honorable way, than literally murdering innocent people. Hope folks who need it get help.

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